The Spectacular footage showed the rocket veering off its trajectory just seconds after its launch at 0638 am (0238 GMT), before erupting into a ball of flames and releasing highly toxic rocket fuel into the air.

The Russian space agency Roskosmos, said the accident caused no damage or casualties.

MOSCOW – Russian researchers say they have discovered a perfectly preserved woolly mammoth carcass with liquid blood on a remote Arctic island, fueling hopes of cloning the Ice Age animal.

They say the frozen remains of a female mammoth were so well-preserved that blood was found in ice cavities when they were broken up. Semyon Grigoryev, the head of the Mammoth Museum who led the expedition, said Thursday the carcass was preserved because its lower part was stuck in pure ice. He said the find could provide scientific material for cloning a mammoth. Wooly mammoths are thought to have died out about 10,000 years ago. Scientists have deciphered much of the animals’ genetic code from their hair, and some believe it’s possible to clone them if living cells are found.

A massive rocket tipped with a Soyuz Spacecraft is rolled from its protective hanger to the remote launch pad where soon t will blast off and take its American, Russian and Italian crew to rendezvous with the International Space Station.

Members of Expedition 36/37 take questions from the news media at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, outside Moscow on May 8 as part of traditional pre-launch activities. After the news conference, six crew members participate in traditional ceremonies at Red Square in Moscow, laying flowers at the Kremlin Wall and touring the Kremlin as they paid tribute to iconic Russian space heroes.